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West Virginia is not only routinely ranked as one of the poorest and most unhealthy states in the country, it also has the third-oldest population, according to data from the 2020 census. That means plenty of people with challenges related to their health, age and income. Fortunately, we have a state Department of Agriculture that understands all that, and is once again offering vouchers through the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, through Oct. 31. Though seniors must receive their vouchers in their home counties, they can use them at any participating farmers market in the ...

New Focus

West Virginia Health Right is on the move. Three mobile units now allow the agency to provide a dental clinic, a medical clinic and now a teaching kitchen to communities in even the most remote corners of the state. With the most recent addition, the non-profit will be able to travel to parts of 34 counties to provide nutritional education, healthy cooking demonstrations and preventive health outreach such as blood pressure readings, body mass index checks and A1C/blood sugar tests. “Food is medicine,” said West Virginia Health Right CEO Angie Settle. “It’s not just the ...

Concerning

Gov. Patrick Morrisey has been on quite a tour over the past few weeks as he signs legislation, makes important announcements and listens in communities all over the state. Here’s hoping he is using those visits to gain an honest understanding of where West Virginia stands against our competition in an economic Backyard Brawl. While there are bright spots here and there, for the most part the Mountain State’s communities and counties are struggling. Backing that up is WalletHub’s “2025’s Best and Worst State Economies” report. No, we’re not dead last. We are second ...

Safety

Most of us understand and follow the rules when it comes to keeping our phones out of our hands and remaining focused when we drive. But those little devices can distract us at other potentially dangerous times, too. How many times have you been puttering through a parking lot, only to have to slam on your brakes when a person with their eyes buried in their cell phones walks in front of you? Or, how many times have you been asked to watch pets or children — perhaps at a park — and gotten sucked into scrolling on your phone only to be jolted back to reality just in time to prevent ...

Foster Care

When public officials hide behind the way they choose to interpret the law rather than focus on resolving deficiencies in their agency that could prove damaging or deadly to children, others in positions of responsibility must act. Gov. Patrick Morrisey says his office is doing just that, as he announced last week six steps for the Department of Human Services to take to improve communication with the public, transparency, training and investigations involving the foster care system and Child Protective Services. “We know that it was difficult to hear many of the issues that could ...

Healthcare

It’s hard to know where to start when it comes to tackling the many challenges that are holding back West Virginians. There’s a new metric, a new study nearly every day that shows us how very far we have to go. But it’s important to use that information to help us change things — to show us where “the way things have always been” has gotten us. Among the more recent studies was WalletHub’s “States Where People Spend the Most and Least on Health Care.” Mountain State residents who already know we are among the most unhealthy in the country can guess where we wind up ...